TO A LUIZ-ER!

City romp home thanks to Gunners fall-guy

metres apart and couldn’t shake hands, while substitutes spread themselves out in the seats behind the benches.

About the only thing that felt normal was the Manchester rain falling in June. This and the fact Mesut Ozil again failed to travel north with Arteta’s men.

The Gunners’ squad met at Stansted Airport before flying to Manchester just three hours before kick off.

But £350,000-a-week flop Ozil was left in London – and Arteta must have wished he’d left Luiz with him as well.

Arteta suggested before kick off that there had been problems with Luiz in recent weeks, but this night wasn’t just about his failings. It was about seeing if football could somehow manage to lift the spirits of a nation left on its knees in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

De Bruyne almost fired City ahead inside four minutes with a dipping free-kick that Bernd Leno tipped over.

Moments later Granit Xhaka was stretchered off with ankle damage after twisting awkwardly before Mari followed suit, leaving Arteta with little choice but to throw on Luiz.

The last we saw of City was them losing to derby rivals United three months ago, which is a long time to wait to get the pain out of the system.

But Luiz seemed more than capable of providing the relief when he let a ball bounce over his thigh on 45 minutes.

Sterling did the rest – and became the first player to score a goal in June in the English top-flight since Walter Rickett for Sheffield United in 1947.

And when Luiz dragged Mahrez to the ground and De Bruyne beat Leno from the spot, there was no way back.

Eleven minutes were added after Ederson left Eric Garcia in a heap as he collided with his team-mate. The defender leaving the field on a stretcher.

And in the second of those added minutes, Phil Foden made it 3-0, following up after Leno diverted a close-range effort from Sergio Aguero on to the post – on a night football came back – but not as we know it.

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